Price Paid:  $1000.00 from Spearit sound, Bosto

Summary:
I just want to add to the reviews below. I think this was a good purchase, but after adding speakers and components, I am wondering if spending less money wouldn't get you just as good a piece of equipment- the Marantz at $500, let's say. I say this because although I like the unit, the dialogue in the center channel is weak despite my upgrading to the B&W CDM center channel. Also, the video inputs should be labelled, TV, DVD, etc. with optical and digital inputs for each rather than this video 1,2,3,4 business with two digitals for 1 and 2 and two opticals for 3 and 4. All manufacturers need to get up to speed on providign both inputs for the audio of each kind of video machine. No one needs the milllion s video connects on the back because most people route directly to the TV- I suspect that many of these issues are issues for most receivers. Remote is reliable, even if you drop it. IT didn't work with my Onkyo DVD or Sony CD, but it worked with my Toshiba DVD and Panasonic VCR, but of course it won't cover all of the buttons on the remote that comes with your components. Tuner is excellent- 30 memories, great sound. Heavy build makes you feel like you paid for something real, but I just wonder if you can't get away with spending less. I would recomment the unit, but just check out the Marantz 4200 or 5200 first, although I haven't listened to them, to be honest.

Summary:
This is an update to a review I posted when i first got the unit. I have used it with a variety of speakers and sources since then and think i have a pretty good overall feel of this product.

DSP's and Sound Modes - A definite strength of this receiver. I have my CD/DVD hooked up with a digital optical cable and this receiver has a special setting for digital two channel called "PCM two channel". Absolutely stunning clarity. DTS sounds amazing and the five basic DSP's work well without drowning in too many modes.

Remote - Could be improved on. Oft-used buttons are small and illogically placed. Cannot switch discs or do anything but play, pause or stop my Pioneer 5 Disc DVD. I recommend a universal here.

Power - Excellent! Although it is only rated at 75w/chan i havent gotten this thing past ~75% yet. Also, it is clean power, i have never had any white noise ot distortion of any kind that didnt come from the source.

Inputs/Outputs - Good and Bad. This thing has TONS(9 I think) of analog and plenty of S-Video(5) and digital(4) inputs. The only thing lacking is a component video. Because of this, I go straight from the DVD to my JVC D-Series. Nothing too bad except for all the input switching I have to do. The newer RSX-975 has two component inputs if you are in the market.

Back Panel - Back panel is organized better than anything I have ever seen. All the inputs for a particular source (audio:analog and digital, video) are lined up. The binding posts for the speakers are annoying and take a long time to set up correctly.

Front panel - Nothing worthy of complaint, I use the remote pretty exclusively. You do have to use it to set radio station presets.

Pet Peaves - The one real complaint I have with this unit is the way it processes bad sources. I have an older DirectTV box and the signal is somewhat choppy. Anytime the 965 receives a hiccup of anny kind, it mutes and flashes a status display on the TV. If you are listening to a radio station with poor reception, it mutes until it receives satisfactory reception again. I solved that particular problem with an amplified antenna, but the satelite issue is becoming bothersome

Notes - When i first used this, i had problems with the unit switching off at medium to high volumes. However, this problem stopped after a month or so and has never returned. I think it had to do with the break-in time of the amp section.

Overall I am very happy with this purchase, but there are a few improvements that would definitely make my life easier.

Price Paid:  $999.00 from encel

Summary:
What a superb piece this is. Whether it is running in stereo, DSP or theatre modes,(5.1 or DTS), the sound and imaging is never less than totally engaging, beautifully controlled and utterly convincing, with seemingly limitless reserves of power.
At present I am running this piece with Celestion speakers, an Arcam DVD player, a Rega CD and an antique Linn Sondek turntable, and what a pleasure it is to listen to my vinyl records thanks to the phono input.
Although this was not the most expensive piece I auditioned it was easily superior to the others regarding sound and versatility. I must say that touchwood, I have had none of the problems beset by the other unfortunate reviewers on this site, perhaps I got the good one.

Strengths:
astonishing sound and imaging.
connectivity. value for money

Weaknesses:
none so far

Similar Products Used:
NAD. DENON. MARANTZ

Price Paid:  $1000.00 from Stereo Supplies

Summary:
I have to say upfront that this was a fantastic product when it worked.

Purchased the unit in August 1999. Opened the box, set it up and discovered that some of the inputs had already been given custom names.

Hmmm...

Should have heard warning bells then, but the sound was so good (Must have drowned out the warning bells! The salesman allayed my fears so we let the matter drop. In retrospect it *still* smells like a returned unit)

We use B&W 603 S2s at front, 601S2s at reat and CC6 S2 for centre. The combination of the Rotel and the B&Ws is what sold us. Great, precise sound -- more than enough power for our needs.

We started getting the problems mentioned elsewhere in this list, but only intermittently at first (white noise when switching inputs, unit humming, hiss and high pitched noise, etc)

Two things turned us from "annoyed but complacent" customers to just plain annoyed:

We purchased a dedicated two channel amp for our fronts (Rotel RB-981 - sweet amp!) and the high pitched whine and hiss became intolerable.

DTS DVDs became available in Australia and we found the same problems that the US owners had encountered.

The unit was taken back to the dealer for the tech guys to look at and the verdict was that they couldn't do much for it short of re-engineering the whole thing.

The dealer initially offered us a percentage back on the price (70%) but when my wife stated that was unacceptable (she actually just said "No") they quickly offered back the full retail price on an upgrade.

(Australia has good consumer laws for this sort of thing. If it is a manufacturer's defect you are entitled to a refund or exchange to a similar product -- at least that's what the Dept. of Fair Trading said on the phone. You DO have to prove there is a history of faults though and a printout of this list was invaluable. It was good that we didn't have to remind the dealer of this -- good service)

This was the great service (with a slight push!) we expected from Rotel and it's dealers. 8 out of 10 for the dealer (-2 for trying it on a bit with us).

The RSX-965 showed a lot of promise but was let down by quality control. If you can find one for a good price (it is a superceded model now) and manage to avoid all of the problems it is a great receiver. Be sure to test EVERYTHING though as it took us a year to find all the faults.

Strengths:
When it works... best sound in it's class, lots of inputs (including phono -- missing on newer model) robust build.

Weaknesses:
Too many bugs and poor quality control

Price Paid:  $800.00 from Goodwins Audio

Summary:
First unit had a high freq hiss which was readily audible and extremely annoying, especially in a fairly expensive piece of equipment. Was given a reboot procedure (cause was allegedly a bad dsp chip). Must have been it since reboot solved the problem, for a few hours anyway. Rotel replaced the unit (through my dealer) with a later production model that they claimed to have replaced the bad chip on and no more problems. Since then it has functioned flawlessly. Not much to say, it drives my speakers well on it's on, works great as a preamp to the dedicated amp I upgraded to, Stereo mode is on par with dedicated stereo pre's, and surround sound modes all kick. It's a solid performing piece of equipment (now) that satisfies all my listening needs with it's versatility. Would've gotten 5 stars if not for the initial problems.

Strengths:
When it's working a great receiver, excels as a stereo source, excellent HT performance, both ProLogic and DD, ample inputs and outputs. Good built in Amp for a receiver.

Weaknesses:
Hiss with 1st unit I bought, remote is unwieldy and menu interface really sucks as the frequently used buttons are oddly placed and inordinately small.

Similar Products Used:
NAD, Yamaha, Marantz, Denon